3 years!!

I can't believe Jake has been home for 3 years ago last night... I will always remember that day as if it was yesterday... Even though that year was so so long now I look back and think it went by so fast... sometimes I have to ask myself if he even went cause it all just seems like a dream. So glad to have him home and safe and that I am able to get a hold of him and talk to him, hug him, kiss him....anytime I want.So glad he got to be here for the birth of Pais and for her little life thus far.. I don't know how people do it when their husbands are gone for their kids life... Happy 3 years babe! You are my hero!
--I feel so bad I forgot my camera for this years Memorial Day.. We had such a good day amongst all our loved ones. This year was a little different having 2 of our very close family members pass away so we all went up to Mayfields Cemetary. I couldn't help but think of all my family members that have passed on as well as Jake's family.... and of course the thought of my mom. My cousin sent me a picture last night as she does every year around memorial day of the front and back of my moms grave..This picture above was takin the day Jake flew out to Iraq.... such a hard day in my life but visiting my mothers grave ( and I don't get to lots) always bring me peace and comfort.  A part of me  still has not gotten over the death of my mother... and maybe it was cause I was so young and only grew up with people telling me stories of her and seein pics of her. I need to move on from that and have closure and I have seen many home videos of her but there is one I havent been able to watch yet and thats her funeral and I think I'm ready to watch it.... when Aunt Debra died  she was the youngest one in both of my families to die that I have been older to understand.. and just to see that and have her die still young and have these little grandkids still having so much life left to live it really hit home to me and I could only imagine what it would have been like to be 29 and die.. Jake is comin up on 29 this year and thats just so weird for me to even think he will be her age when she left..... Im ready for closure and I of course will always have her with me but their is lots that I need to let go of.. I'm so grateful for everyone of my loved ones that have gone on-- my grandma and grandpa blad-- Grandpa knott-- and Grandpa Jack, Aunt Debra and Aunt Michelle. As I always say when I talk about this is I am so grateful that we can be families forever... I am so in love with that that. It makes me want to be a better person everyday.. Hope everyone had a good memorial day rememberin their loved ones and the ones that fought for us and died for us..:)

Cruisin*

Home at Last!!

Man, what a freakin awesome time we all had!! Cruises are goin to be my new thing from now on... If you have ever been on one you know you eat so so much but I got a good workout in everyday all day from all the laughing that we did.. we went with the best group of people and I'm so glad were friends. Every night we went to kareoke or a show of some sort.. Some of them were really funny.. I wasn't to fond of the dancers on the ship I didn't think they were that good and their were some that shouldnt be dancers but hey.. I don't have a normal eye anyways so I'm sure people who dont know anything about dance loved them..Can't wait to go again:) May 2012 anyone??

Day1-- Went to bed at 2 am and woke up at 3 am to be ready to pick everyone up at 3:30 and hit the road.. Got to Long beach around 11 and waiting in line to get on the boat.. wahoo!! You have to go through so many security but we finally all made it through( it took del a little longer cause he forgot he had some bullets in his back pack and that caused an uproar but we all got on safe and sound:)

Spent the day unpacking and checkin out the boat.

Day 2-- We were on the boat all day cause we were still on our way to Cabo.. it was so fun to start out the vacation just being on the boat. We gots lots of girl time in laying out in the sun.. and pretty much just having a lazy day. What more could you ask for! I couldnt remember when our first elegant night was but it was monday and that was so much fun.. to see everyone in their pretty dresses and the men all dressed up it was so so fun!

Day 3-- Arrived in Cabo San Lucas.. Shopped at a few shops and after being bombarded with people tryin to buy their "deals" we found the perfect guy who would take us on a tour to lovers beach and snorkel all for 15 bucks. We walked into town and found a scooter shop and each couple rented scooters and we got them for 2 hours so we went sight seeing all through the town and it was one of my favorite highlights that we did. I was for sure ours were goin to die an second or run out of gas but we made it the full 2 hours... I will remember that one for sure.. Snorkeling was fun too.. i just had to get over the fact that the fish weren't goin to eat me and after hyperventilating it was way fun... Jake dove down and tried to touch the fish but I just stayed in my comfort zone above the water.. He was sure fun to watch.. probably more than the fish:) We all snorkeled over to a little cliff island and we took off our gear and climbed up the cliff and jumped off.. It was high but lots of fun:)

Day 4-- The boat was docked for 2 days in Cabo so we went into town again and found someone to just take us over to lovers beach. This day was crazy for the ocean. We went walked over to lovers beach from another beach and the waves were CRAZY BIG! When we walked on the other side of Lovers beach to the Pacific Ocean side.. oh many the waves were even CRAZIER!!! I put up pics of the boys playin in the waves and pics dont do justice but they were enormous. There were a million signs sayin No Swimming.. and some local boys came over and saw all our husbands playin in them and they pretty much told us how crazy they were...Duh--We knew that already! After they had had enough of that we headed back over to the other beach and all of us played in the crazy waves but not as crazy as the pacific side.. We played in them for about an hour and it was so so fun... They would suck you in so far and then when it was getting ready to wash us upshore we would go so far and everytime we got our swimsuits full of sand.. It was a blast! We had to be on the boat earlier so we could set sail for our next destination.

Day 5-- Arrived in Porta Vallearta (sp) and we were off the boat first thing in the morning. Of course we were bombarded with sellers again but we again found that perfect guy ( Thank goodness we had Channing and Hardman that spoke spanish) who would take us to zip line 12 or 13 lines and transport us up there for 35 bucks.. Which one guy said we couldnt find anyone cheaper than 60.. haha sucker we did!! This couple from Nephi who was on our honeymoon joined our group cause who doesn't like a deal right? But they were like family coming from Nephi and they knew lots of people that we did even relatives so that was fun to get to know them. The drive up to the zip line was about 45 min but it was a fun ride. Going through the city and just seeing how people lived.. it broke my heart and Jake said we saw the upper class part of town to.. On the bus ride there was another couple on thier from Pleasant Grove.. and they had actually been on the same cruise ship in November but thats the one that broke down that you heard all about on the news. But they got to come on a all expenses paid cruise.. They were a really fun couple. We finally got to the zip line and man was it a blast. I'm so glad we did it. They filmed a movie up there and I cant remember what it was at the moment but there were a couple kids dressed up like the monster in the show and when you would get off one zip line you would see a guy in costume but it always looked like he was resting so you like oh he is not goin to get me but then there was always someone right there ready to scare you.. it was a really good idea cause no one saw it coming cause we all thought they were resting:) haha  I screamed so loud everytime..I get scared easily. And now I wish I would have bought the video! It was so hot and humid up at the zip line and I was sweating bullets and I never sweat but when were all done there was a little pond with see through water that had a rope swing that you could swing off in to the pond. By that time it became over cast and I was cooled off so I didn't get in but some others did. The zip line was right up there with the scooter ridin as my favorite things:)

Day 6-- That was it were on our way back to California but still had 2 days left on the boad. I was so excited to relax in the sun these next 2 days but they were both windy days on the ocean so we didn't do much layin out but we played lots of cards and hung out and went to shows and played some minature golf. We had another elegant night and this one we wore our fancier dresses and the waiters wore there tuxs and everyone looked so beautiful. Everynight at dinner there was this guy who was a worker but he would walk around to everone and ask them how there day was but he always came over to our table and asked for us to dance with him. All the waiters in the restaurant do a different dance every night so we would learn the dance and go dance with him and this little ledge lookin out over everyone. Dinner was always so fun.. I was always excited to see what they had on the menus and of course the dessert menus.. Then it was off to some kareoke and stand up Comedians and Jake and I went and layed on lawn chairs and watched Little Fockers on the big screen. It was kinda fun just spendin a little alone time with him. We both fell asleep a few time durin the movie but it was fun.

Day7- We pretty much just had a lazy day on the boat and that is always fun to.  I was all lookin forward to tonights big last night show cause our very own Channing sang as Garth Brooks and that was a blast. He won the spot and he had quite the fan club. . if you have ever heard his voice you would know why. There were 3 other guys that sang as Ricky Martin and Elvis and one other I cant remember but they were from BYU and man could they perform.. they went all out and were crazy dancers with their "awesome" moves but they did fantastic as well.Before that show we went to this marriage show and it.was.HILARIOUS! I laughed so freakin hard..... They had 2 couples on their that were Newlyweds but one of them was a much older couple and the other newlywed couples were about our age and then the other couple had been married for like 47 years so it was so funny to hear all the different things they would put and say:)

Day 8-- We got off the boat about 7 and headed back to the big 15 passengers white van for the long ride home. Even though we had just spent 7 days with everyone I still wasn't sick of anyone.. we all had a blast but those of us with kids were so excited to see them. When April and I arrived at her home Paisley and Boston were waitin there for us.. so as soon as we parked we were out the door to see them. Pais didn't know what to think and there were so many people around she was to busy to even look at me. Jake and I missed her both so so much but I'm so glad she was in a fun place with my family. A big shout out to them for takin miss p:)

If your still readin.. congratulations you dont have a life.. haha just kidding... 7 days is along time but well worth it.. Now its back to reality! :(

Camilles Graduation*

Last night Camille gradated highschool.. I cant believe she is old enough to graduate..Seems like yesterday I was carrying her down the hall in the laundry basket.. I cant wait to see where she takes her life and all that she accomplishes.. Congrats little sis and good luck in the big world!!!

~6 months~

Ok seriously.. is she not the cutest thing you have ever seen? Yesterday (22) was her official 6 month birthday but we got home from our cruise so I didn't get any pics of her so today I took a few. I can't believe she is 6 month.. I kinda can but for the most part ...no- I felt like she was 3 months FOREVER but now that she is  months I know that she will be a year before we know it. She is so so fun right now and is so so happy and content.

Things I want to remember her about 5 & 6 months-
-She rolled over for the 1st time on my birthday (April 28)
... now she is a little rolie polie and never stops
-Started cereal and has a love/hate relationship with it
-She is really really alert and is constantly moving her arms and legs
-Whenever you go away for a few seconds and come back and she sees you she lets out this little squeel that is that darndest, cutest sound.
- Just recently she started nodding her head up and down
-She smacks her gums like an old "no teeth" person (its really the cutest thing ever)
-She sleeps mostly through the night.. every night its different but were on a role so far of sleepin through the night but ya never know
-She loves anything and everything that you put in her hand- she immediatly has to put it in her mouth
-She finally loves to read books and is interested in the pages
-Once again she is still so in love with the mirror and she does that little squeel thing that I talked about earlier
-She loves that dog that I put up at the top... just today a lady from our ward was out walkin her dog pepper and she came over and Pais's face lit up so big and she could stop smiling. She has always been around my parents dog but apparently Mollie doesn't have that effect on her as pepper did. I'm not goin to lie it really made me want to go buy a dog.
-I fed her applesauce yesterday for the first time and she was IN LOVE with it.
-Im so anxious and excited for her to try new foods.. There is nothin better than a babies face after trying something new.
-She finally fits into her age clothes infact she is almost getting to big for them-- which means she is not behind any more in being tiny.
-She had her 6 months shots today and she bawled and the biggest alligator tears came strollin down.. broke my heart in half.
 STATS
......15 lbs 8 oz (41 %)
... 25 and 3/4 in (51%)
Head circumference.... 16 1/4 " (18%)
- Never a dull moment with our little Pais. She keeps us on our feet and always is entertained whether we're the ones entertaining or she entertains herself. I couldn't have asked for a better baby and she has adjusted so well to Jake and mine's lifestyle. Love you cupcake:)

Graduation*

Graduation came and went so fast...... For the longest time you think you will be in school FOREVER! Now its the wednesday after and  I cant believe its over with...I am so relieved and I'm not the one that even graduated. I AM SO SO GRATEFUL ITS OVER WITH...... and  I am so grateful for all of Jake's hard work. The Graphic Design program is alot different than other degrees and its different in a lot of  ways.. The past 2 months I have not seen Jake for more than like 10 minutes a day and he would be gone at night to.. he would come home to sleep for like 3 hours then it was up and back at school for another long day of school and homework.. As much as Graduation is a celebration ( and it was).. I got a little emotional as he received his diploma and the dean called out his name. Emotional for many reasons.. when we got married you just think you will be poor college students forever and thats just how life is and now its emotional cause now he is on the job hunt and has a few awesome prospectors but he cant really do anything until he gets his website completely done. Graduating college is a big thing in life and I am so excited for the life that is in store for us but its always sad to say good bye to the memories that we made here in Cedar. I am so ready for change and will miss so many people and the good friends that we have made.. Thanks to all those that came and supported Jake and our family. Its so much more fun when you have family and friends there to celebrate with you.. Congrats my love on accomplishing this huge thing in your life and our families life. You are the hardest workin person I know:) I cant wait to see where your talent will take us. I am so grateful that I get to experience life with you.. You are my bestie and I love you so so much!! YOU DID IT!!!! 

EaSteR-and other happenings

                                           Pais new toy:)

                       Ride to Arizona.. so precious!

Happy Easter my little Snuggle Bunny!!

We came home a day early from Az and we suprised Jake.. I was talkin to him on the phone when he opened the door.. he was SHOCKED!! Don't you love his face??? Priceless..

April made me this cute cupcake for my birthday! Thanks ape:)

Did you know Jake plays the piano? He doesnt read music but he just plays by ear:) Love it.. and this is our piano but Trav and Meag were nice enough to store it for us at the house cause we didn't have any room:(

 

For Easter... my parents invited to to tag along with them to St Johns, Az to visit my grandparents and other family that I hadnt seen in 2 years.. Can you believe it? We had so much fun and play lots and lots of fun card game- plus I was able to be to my cousin Candaces blessing of her sweet twin boys.. she actually lives in provo but i had to go all the way to az to see them and her.. Love them! I felt bad Jake couldn't come with us and had to miss Paisleys 1st easter but he got a lot of homework done while we were away.. We had a blast and Paisley was so so good the ride to and home from there.. 

-I celebrated my 23rd birthday lately and man I never thought I would turn 23... good golly when I was a kid 23 was old and where did the time go.. now I'm old! Jake and I went to dinner on our anniversary (2 days beforemy b-day) and then on my b-day me and my neighbors threw our other neighbor a baby shower at my house and that was so fun! On Friday (29) Travis and Meagan had a big BBQ and dessert at their house and it was so so fun.. we played games and the food was so yummy.. Thanks so much you guys! Also yesterday (May 1) my sister paid for Jake and I to come up to Kanosh and take her pics for graduation.. we didn't charge her to take her pics or make the announcements but she paid for our gas. It was so fun to go up for the day and while we were up there my mom made some pies and had a party for me and my cousin Josh (stacias husband) .  I had a little piece of everything and I am still full from them.. YUM YUM!

- We took about 100 pics of my sister and it was so hard to narrow it down for her announcement but we ended up pickin some awesome ones and I wanted to put like 10 pics on here but I better wait til the announcement is out until I do that.. She is so beautiful and so photogenic!

-Did you know that this Saturday Jake will be graduating?? WAHOO!! So excited... what a great Mothers Day present!